Obituary

UWW Hall of Fame, former Medical Commission chair Tavakol passes away

Thursday, February 29, 2024 - 14:26 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (February 29) -- Dr. Mohammad TAVAKOL, a former member of the United World Wrestling Bureau and Hall of Famer, passed away in Tehran at the age of 89 after a period of illness.

Born in 1923 in Qazvin, Iran, Tavakol chaired the Iranian Wrestling Federation and was the Vice President of the UWW. He also held membership in the Executive Committee of the UWW and was the chairman of the Medical Commission of UWW. He was inducted into the UWW Hall of Fame in 2011.

Tavakol graduated in medicine from the University of Tehran and studied in England for his specialization. He began his wrestling career under the supervision of the late Habibollah BOLOUR, the former head coach of the national Iranian wrestling team.

Tavakol served four six-year terms as a member of the Executive Committee of the UWW and was elected as the head of the UWW Asia for a four-year term. He had a significant impact on medical coverage of wrestling competitions during his role as the head of the Medical and Anti-Doping Commission.

UWW mourns the passing of Dr. Tavakol and expresses deepest sympathies to the Tavakol family.

#JapanWrestling

Ozaki, Tanabe take special wrestling trip to Iran

Monday, April 28, 2025 - 12:22 By Vinay Siwach

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TEHRAN, Iran (April 28) — While most Paris Olympic medalist from Japan are preparing for June’s Meiji Cup at their base universities in Japan, world champion Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) and Asian champion Kaisei TANABE (JPN) have managed to squeeze in a educational trip to Iran despite their busy training schedule.

Ozaki, who won bronze medal at the Paris Olympics at 68kg, returned to international competition recently won a silver medal at 62kg at the Asian Championships in March. She is expected to compete at the Meiji Cup which will be held in Tokyo from June 19 to 22.

“I am in Iran right now,” Ozaki told UWW. “It’s a place I always wanted to visit. I am really happy.”

Ozaki visited Tehran as part of her education trip and exchanged wrestling notes with few of the Iranian wrestlers who are part of the team.

“Iran has many world and Olympic champions and I wanted to study wrestling here,” she said. “I stayed for a week and this experience will help me learn me about wrestling.”

Nonoka OZAKI (JPN)Nonoka OZAKI (JPN), left, and Kaisei TANABE (JPN), third from left, in Iran. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Tanabe won the gold medal at the Asian Championships at 65kg and also attended the training camp with Iran wrestlers.

The Nippon Sports Science University wrestler is also expected to compete at the Meiji Cup and if he wins, he will book his ticket to the World Championships in September where he can meet Paris Olympic silver medalist Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) who was present at the training camp in Tehran.

Amouzad lost the 65kg final in Paris to Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) who is a teammate of Tanabe at NSSU.